My dad (Walter L. Scott) owned a double-barreled breech-loading shotgun since I could
remember. I have a faint recollection of going with him to kill a rabbit or two when I was
about 6 or 7 (1915 or 1916) and having to wait until the smoke cleared to find the rabbit.
Evidently that was about the time that smokeless shells came on the market in affordable
quantities. Dad bragged on the smokeless shells for several years.
Dad did not go hunting by himself. If he was by himself he went
to get a rabbit or two, or a squirrel; he already knew where they were. Of course, if
someone wanted to go with him he went hunting.
Along about 1920 Uncle Willie Scott came to visit us from Oklahoma and
brought Dad a new muzzle-loading shotgun. Dad bought a supply of smokeless powder, some
shot pellets and some caps and was in business.
It was interesting to watch him measure the powder and pour it into the
"business end" of the gun. Then tear off a piece of newspaper, just the right
amount of shot, pour it in and tamp another wad of newspaper on top.
When he was ready to go hunting he placed a cap under each trigger and
was on his way. Since Dad usually knew where some rabbits hid, he often came back with a
rabbit or two that had been beheaded. He had only shot at the head; not the whole rabbit.
In my memory when Dad loaded both barrels he came back with two rabbits, a rabbit and a
squirrel or two squirrels.
I never became a hunter!